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MH17 Shootdown Causes Flight Bans across Ukrainian Airspace

Prior to the MH17 disaster that killed 298 people on July
17, Ukraine had imposed a partial flight ban for the region. On July 1, flight
plans below 26,000 feet were denied. Flights below 32,000 feet were banned
after pro-Russian separatists shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane on
July 14. The Antonov AN-26 transport plane was flying at 21,000 feet before it
was brought down. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was flying at 33,000 feet before
it crashed near Grabovo, Ukraine.

After the MH17 disaster, the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) banning all U.S. flight
operations in eastern Ukraine for an indefinite time. The FAA cited that
“events have indicated the potential for continued hazardous activities.” They
will reevaluate the status of the ban on October 3, 2014.

In other countries, the decision on whether or not to use
the same flight path as MH17 may depend on the airline. In the U.S., the
decision ultimately comes from the FAA, its air safety regulator. According
to New.com.au, airlines in Australia are unrestricted but their Civil
Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) does put out notices on high-risk areas.
Qantas Airways started rerouting flights away from Ukraine in March after
Russian troops entered the Crimea.

Other airlines that stopped service after the MH17
crashed include:

·Transaero, a Russian airline, will avoid flight
paths over Ukraine on all future flights.

·Delta Airlines released a statement saying they
will not route flights through Ukrainian airspace.

·Korean Airlines Co., has also been avoiding
flight paths over Eastern Ukraine since March and is reviewing their risk
control assessments on other flights.

·Emirates Airline said it would suspend
operations over Kiev and even returned a flight from Dubai.

·Thai Airways International PCL started
redirecting flights that travel between Bangkok and Europe.

·British Airways released a statement saying that
their flights only use Ukrainian airspace once a day on a route from Heathrow
and Kiev.

·Air France, Turkish Airlines and Air India all
said they would reroute flights away from Ukraine.

Will my plane fly over Ukraine?

Airlines don’t normally post details of flight paths to
the public. To find out about a current flight path, including carriers that
are flying over Ukrainian airspace, you can track a particular flight through
websites like Flightradar24.com.
This provides a real time view of planes various routes throughout the world.

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